I made my own stencil (tutorial coming soon!) but you can use any stencil.

I had just made the stencil and I tried it out on the back of my wood. When I was done I wiped it off with a sponge and didn't dry it at all. Fail #1. Make sure you ALWAYS dry your stencil before using it! Now center your stencil and just lay it on.

Press down the top and bottom of your stencil so it lays flat. If you have little hanging strips press them down too, this is easiest if your paint is barely damp.

Using your foam brush, dab a different color of paint on from the top. Don't actually brush it back and forth.

Continue all the way down, it should look something like this now:

Lift your stencil off. I was so mad when I saw this! This is why you dry your stencil off. If you don't you get lots of leaks. If you decide not to listen to me, and your sign looks like this, just let it completely dry. :D Trust me. That was my fail #2.

(see, I tried it on the back and it worked PERFECTLY! Just had to show you for proof that my stencil did NOT fail :D I'm sort of proud of my stencil... 'cause it was ALL my idea! (meaning no one I've ever seen has ever made one out of a sheet of plastic.) :D :D :D)

Oh, paint the edges too, if you want too!

Once your stencil paint has dried, get a small brush and fix it up. I actually like the "touched up" look more, it goes more with the distressedness.

Once that has dried sand lightly over the whole surface, and then sand it on the edges so you can see the wood.

Now admire it... isn't it purdy?!?

Thank you for reading my blog! Let me know by commenting if you like my tutorials... I know this one wasn't the greatest quality, but that's what you get for crafting late at night! :P